Kurisutaru: Prereads
by Kris Harold
Summary: The prequels to Kurisutaru: The Kind-Hearted Shinobi.I hope this makes things less confusing for everyone. This, too, will have more submissions when I get to writing them. They're in chronological order, and I will try to keep it that way when I update.
1. Hogosha's Last Gift

**Hogosha's Last Gift**

A three-year-old Kurisutaru rode on the shoulders of her father Hogosha as they walked through the markets of the village. His silver hair glistened brilliantly in the daylight sun. He stopped at a shop and observed the jeweler's wares, reflection of the jewelry sparkling in his daughter's eyes. He noticed this and asked, "Do you see anything you like?"

Kurisutaru's eyes scanned over the jewelry until they stopped on a silver heart-shaped locket with beautiful engravings of roses delicately engraved around the border. She took a deep breath as she gazed at it. "That one's pretty…"

"So, you like it? Would you like to have it?"

She nodded slowly, never taking her eyes off the silver pendant. "Yes, daddy, please? Can I?"

"Maybe when you're older," he laughed as he gently lifted her off of his shoulders and onto the ground. "Let me talk for a moment. You can go play with his cat over there." Hogosha pointed to a rusty-colored tiger cat belonging to the shop owner as she ran over to play with it.

A few minutes later, the silver-haired man lifted Kurisutaru back onto his shoulders and the two walked home together.

For the longest time, Kurisutaru would sneak around the house, spying on her parents in an attempt to see if he had bought the locket for her or not. Like any child, she didn't want to wait until her birthday to receive it. One morning, when she came to the breakfast table, Hogosha and Rikka were already at the table and waiting for her.

Kurisutaru looked between them curiously as her older brother, Marugo, came downstairs for breakfast, as well. "What's going on?"

Rikka nodded at her husband and Hogosha smiled as he lifted his daughter into his arms. "I have a present for you."

The little girl's eyes lit up as she smiled. "What is it?"

"Close your eyes," he instructed.

Kurisutaru lifted her tiny hands up over her eyes and closed them, anxiously awaiting her gift.

"All right, open them," Rikka said after several moments. "We decided it would be too hard to make both of you wait for your birthday to give it to you."

When she opened her eyes, her father's hand was outstretched in front of her face, holding the silver heart-shaped locket she had seen at the market. It had her first name engraved into its front and he popped it open for her to see its contents. It had the most recent picture of Hogosha, Rikka, Marugo, and Kurisutaru that had been taken inside it.

Kurisutaru's eyes lit up in joyful surprise as she gasped. "It's beautiful!" Her arms wrapped around Hogosha's neck as she embraced him tightly. "Thank you, daddy! Thank you!"

The day went by and Kurisutaru was practically skipping around with joy at her new locket. Her parents watched her contently as she did so, glad to see her so happy. When night fell, there was a knock on their door. It was their family friends: the Bukes.

"Tomo? Gentaru? What's going on?" Hogosha asked, looking between the two adult shinobi.

"Trouble: Kyuubi's at the front gates. All licensed shinobi are to report for assistance!" the man named Tomo stated.

"There's no time to waste, we need to hurry," the man's wife, Gentaru, urged. There was a toddler in her arms. "I hope you don't mind, but could Teinei stay here until it's over?"

Rikka was standing beside her husband at the door. "No problem. Teinei is always welcome here, you know that."

The woman nodded and set her son down and he walked over to Kurisutaru and she immediately began showing off her locket to him. He reached for it, eager to see, but she pulled it away, shaking her head.

Young Marugo came running to the door with several weapons in hand. "I want to come! I want to fight, too!"

Though Kurisutaru and Teinei were young, they knew trouble when they saw it. She walked over to her father as Hogosha placed a hand on each of his children's heads.

"You two will stay here with your mother. Marugo, you are still an Academy Student. You don't need to fight. Let us handle this, all right?" His eyes were soft. If he was scared of this battle in any way, he didn't show it.

"But--!" Marugo began to protest.

"You were given two, strong legs to stand on your own, and you were given two, good arms to hold loved ones close and protect them. I'm going to make use of mine. Everything will be all right; don't worry. Tomo and Gentaru will be with me and so will the rest of Konoha." Hogosha smiled at the two and ruffled Marugo's hair. He stood up straight and gave his wife a hug and a kiss.

"Be careful," she whispered.

Hogosha nodded to his family and ran out the door with the two ninja of the Buke clan and was gone in an instant. Several hours passed as Rikka, Marugo, Kurisutaru, and Teinei awaited their return as they took the necessary precautions of attack. Rikka was careful not to alarm the children so they would not be worried or upset in the meantime. When the attack appeared to be over, there was a knock on their door and Rikka answered.

Tomo and Gentaru stood quietly in the door. Parts of their clothes were torn but they otherwise appeared unharmed. "Rikka… The Kyuubi's been sealed inside a newborn child of the village," Tomo explained quietly.

She looked around them, trying to see her husband. "Where's Hogosha? Is he all right?" As Rikka looked in between their faces, she didn't like the solemn expressions they held.

Gentaru shook her head quietly, "He didn't make it, Rikka. I'm sorry."

Her eyes widened as she looked nervously at the two. "What… Do you mean?"

"He's dead, Rikka," Tomo answered bluntly.

Rikka's world collapsed around her as she dropped to her knees with a scream. "No, he can't have! I should've had been there, too, dammit! I should've—!"

"You had to stay here with the children. It's not your fault," Gentaru reasoned. She helped her friend to her feet and into the house so she wouldn't be having a meltdown in front of any passersby. Tomo followed them into the house and scooped up Teinei in his arms as he watched Rikka curiously. Even at the age of two, he understood what death meant and he knew it was not good. "Do you want us to take the children for the night?" she asked gently.

The silver-haired woman shook her head 'no' as she wiped her eyes. "Thank you, anyway, Gentaru."

Tomo nodded. "We'll just go now. Would you like us to stop by in the morning?"

Again, Rikka simply shook her head as her two friends left with their son. She called over her own two children and explained what had just happened to Hogosha. Marugo growled angrily to himself and ran up to his room in rage at the news. Kurisutaru began sobbing and clutched her locket in her hand, holding it close to her heart.

"Daddy _can't_ die! He said everything would be okay! He said so! You heard him, mommy!" Kurisutaru choked.

Rikka wrapped her arms around her small daughter and held her close, tears streaking down her cheeks. "I know… I know."


	2. We'll Do it Together

**Whatever We Do, We'll Do it Together**

Iroppoi laid on his back and looked up, staring into the sky as he lay in the grass. It was a nice day in Otogakure. He felt a shadow grow over him as he looked a little farther above him. "Hey, Ai, what are you doing?"

The shimmering face smiled brightly at him. "Nothing. What are you doing?" She knelt down and sat by his head and ran her fingers through his hair for something to occupy herself to prevent boredom.

"I'm just watching the sky. Are you feeling any better? Mom and dad told you to stay in bed, didn't they?" The older boy turned onto his stomach to face his younger sister.

Her hair fell just around her shoulders as she looked down at him as her smile disappeared into a pout. "But I don't want to stay inside. Please, don't tell on me!" Her bright green eyes begged him as her raven locks swayed in the passing wind.

He sighed in defeat. "If mom asks, it wasn't my idea." Lying back down on the grass, he folded his arms behind his head for support. "And if dad asks, I made you come out here." Iroppoi winked up at her. They both knew that their father was the decision-maker and if there was anyone you didn't want to get in trouble with, it was him. It's not like Iroppoi was forcing her to go back inside, like he should be, but he didn't want his sister to get in trouble for simply joining him outside. She was everything to him: his precious person.

Ai smiled and suddenly started coughing violently and holding a hand to her chest for stability while the other covered her mouth. Iroppoi sat up abruptly and assisted her the best he could manage. She shook her head and smiled through her covered mouth. "I'm fine," her raspy voice whispered cheerfully.

His eyes narrowed. "No, you're not. Do you need something to drink? You should go inside and lay down."

Ai closed her fist and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand to hide the blood that she had just coughed up before smiling again at her brother. "I'm fine, brother, really!" The braids on each side of her face swayed in front of her face with the breeze as she cheerily watched her brother.

Iroppoi shook his head sternly. "No, you're going inside. Right now, let's go." He stood up and pulled his sister with him, picking her up and carrying her into the house. He had just turned seven and she was five, but Ai was a small girl so she was easy for him to carry. Once he finally persuaded her to lie down in her bed, he left the room to retrieve a glass of water for her and ran into their older brother.

"What happened, Iroppoi?" Reis asked from the kitchen table as he ate a plate of eggs.

"Ai went outside and starting coughing really bad," he answered simply. "Why won't mom and dad buy her the medicine she needs to get better?"

"You know we can't afford it, Squirt." Reis stood up and walked over to the sink, starting the water to do the dishes. "Besides, I don't think it can be cured. Everyone in our family gets it at one point or another. It runs in our family."

"Like the Kasukagan?" he questioned. There were many things Iroppoi wasn't sure about. He had just started using his bloodline trait Kasukagan so it was still very new to him. How he inherited it as well as its abilities.

"Kind of like the Kasukagan, I guess." The sixteen-year-old smiled at his little brother. "You'd better get that water in to Ai, soon."

Iroppoi looked down at the glass of water in his hands, having forgotten all about it. "Right!" Leaving the room, he quickly disappeared behind the door to the bedroom he, Reis, and Ai shared.

Reis watched after Iroppoi was sullen eyes. "How long can you hold out until Yokoshima becomes too violent for you to control, Iroppoi? They always do, eventually…"

Ai was sleeping soundly in her bed while Iroppoi was outside the window practicing using his Kasukagan on simple objects such as soda can lids and kunai. The point of the exercise was to read the weakness in the object and then act on it to destroy it or make it fall apart. Humans were far more complicated to see weaknesses than objects, so it only made sense to do objects, first. When he heard his parents come home, his eyes lit up, eager to show his father how far he'd progressed in his jutsu. Climbing in through the window, he opened the door to the main room where something seemed out-of-place. Reis was standing between his parents and the bedroom with a kunai drawn.

Iroppoi looked around the room and saw a limp body on the ground. As his eyes traveled, he saw that there were actually several as he stifled a startled whimper from himself. He felt like he was going to vomit and looked up at his brother and his parents. All three sets of eyes were a crimson red: the color of an activated Kasukagan. Reis was on the defensive while it appeared his parents were on the attacking side. Both of the adults had ruffled-looking hair and angry expressions. It scared the young boy to see his parents that way.

"What's going on here?" Iroppoi asked.

Reis's head jerked backwards to see his little brother. "Iroppoi, get out of here! Do as I say! And take Ai with you; protect her with your life!"

Iroppoi turned on his heels back into the bedroom and pulled his sleeping sister out of her bed and into the closet, leaving it open a fraction to see what was going on.

"What are you doing?" Reis asked his parents as they advanced on him with their weapons.

The man chuckled darkly. "What am I doing?" He looked up at the teen with an eerie grin. "I'm getting rid of you brats, that's what!"

The woman tapped her kunai on her chin lightly, making an equally eerie smile as she looked at her oldest son out of the corners of her eyes. "Can I taste their blood before we kill them? It's always better fresh."

Reis's eyes widened in horror, as did his hidden little brother's eyes. "I'm not letting you hurt Ai or Iroppoi! Mom, dad, you have to snap out of it!"

"Newsflash, kid: your mom and dad aren't here anymore. It's just those brats, you, and us. Your parents will never be coming back by the time we're through with you!" the form of their mother sneered.

"That won't happen, because I won't let you!" Reis threw a kunai each at his parents, but they were more skilled than he was and killed him the instant the kunais left his hands.

Iroppoi gasped in horror as he clutched his little sister closer to his body defensively. This had to be what his parents had told him about! Something happens to people in their families that cause them to turn into different people: people intent on killing until the effect has run its course, the person is dead, or some form of outside interference. He wanted to close his eyes to avoid the sight, but he was frozen. Iroppoi couldn't even scream, even as his parents began making their way towards the closet he and Ai were hiding in.

The front door suddenly broke down as officers rushed in through them and killed both parents on the spot and left soon afterwards after they saw there were no survivors, unaware of the two children in the closet. After he was sure everything was safe, Iroppoi took a deep breath, choking as the stench of death entered his lungs. He gripped his still-sleeping sister tighter in his arms as he stood and exited the closet. When he looked at his brother, the sight of the blood started making him feel different… angry, almost. Oddly, he felt like he wanted to taste it. He quickly closed his eyes and looked up to look straight ahead of himself. "Thank you, Reis," he sniffled as he started walking out of the house, stumbling over the bodies of his parents and the other people. Some of the people he thought were members of his family, but he didn't look at them to confirm it.

It had been a year and Ai's health was growing worse. She was to the point where she could barely get out of her pathetic excuse for a bed Iroppoi had put together for her in an abandoned building. Even rats refused to stay in such a place. She was coughing up blood frequently, causing her chest to burn painfully with the force of it. Ai would quickly clean it off of herself before her brother could see, knowing the reaction it would instill in him.

Iroppoi was often away during the day, scavenging for food by any means he could get it, including theft. He used his skills as a shinobi to steal fruits and bread for his ill sister, rarely being caught. Many days, he would go without eating so Ai could eat because he simply couldn't take too much at once or it would be noticed and he would be caught, and the shop owners would know to watch for him and raise security in their shops. Looking ahead of him, he saw the butcher shop and took a deep breath with a hard swallow. No matter what, he couldn't try to take meat from there, even if that would be the most nutritious thing for Ai. One look at the blood and he would turn into Yokoshima: the name of his 'other person' that was intent on killing, just like his parents. Iroppoi closed his eyes and continued walking straight forward and back to the abandoned building he and his sister were living in.

"Ai, I have some food. Can you sit up to eat it?" he asked gently as he walked over to where she lay.

Her eyes opened and looked at him sleepily. She used her arms to push herself up into a sitting position, her brother's hand on her back to assist her efforts. "What did you get today?"

Iroppoi pulled out a small loaf of bread, a banana, and an apple and handed it to her. "This was all I could get."

Ai took them into her hands and pulled the loaf of bread in half, handing her brother the larger half. "You have to eat something, too."

He shook his head. "You need it more than I do."

Emerald eyes narrowing with determination, she said, "Either we both eat, or neither of us eat."

Sighing in defeat, Iroppoi took the smaller half of the loaf of bread from her so she would be stuck with the larger half. He would eat if it meant she would, too. "Fine, just eat."

Giving him a light glare for taking the smaller half of the bread, she smiled and started eating. "Thank you, Iroppoi."

He nodded. "You're welcome."

Ai looked down at the rest of the food in her lap as she chewed, thinking. Iroppoi refused to tell her the entire story of what happened and refused going into detail of what he actually told her about. "There's something I heard once…"

Iroppoi looked up at her curiously as he chewed on his bread. "And what would that be?"

"'The reason older brothers are born first is so they can protect their younger brothers and sisters,'" she said quietly. Looking up into her brother's face, she asked with tear-filled eyes, "Is that what Reis did?"

The boy lowered the bread from his face and leaned over, wrapping his arms around his younger sister. "Yeah… He did. And don't worry, Ai, I'll do the same for you. I promise that I'll never let anything happen to you." He felt that Reis had passed that responsibility on to him when he died and told Iroppoi to protect her.

Ai reached a hand to the necklace tucked inside of her shirt. It was a cross with the letter 'A' engraved on it. "Mom and dad said… That these necklaces represented the sins we want to make up for, right? Responsibility for the things we do and how whatever we do in our lives, it's because we made it that way and we are the only ones who can fix it: no one else."

Iroppoi nodded as he pulled out his own, slightly larger necklace that was tucked inside his shirt. He looked back up at his little sister and held up his cross next to hers. "See this? What does it spell?"

She looked at the initials engraved on hers and the ones on his: 'A' and 'I'. "'Ai'… It spells my name."

He nodded. "And 'ai' means 'love.' Whatever we do in our lives and wherever we go, we'll be a part of each other. You can't spell ai without the 'A' or the 'I'. We have to do it together."

Looking up at him, rays of hope shone in her eyes. "Together? Do you promise?"

Iroppoi nodded again. "I promise. We'll always stay together. We're all we have left and that's all that matters."

Iroppoi stepped out of the abandoned building to go search for food again. Before he even took ten steps, a kunai flew into his shoulder. Careful not to look at it and the blood, he turned to see who threw the weapon to see three men.

"It's him, that's the boy!" They ran up to him, more weapons in their hands, prepared for attack.

"The butcher was found dead last night. What do you know about it?" the second man asked.

He sighed. Of course, he would be the first suspect, considering his reaction to blood. "But it—It wasn't me!"

The first man nodded sarcastically. "Of course not. You know what the punishment for killing around here is around here, boy, don't you?" He stepped closer to the young boy with a katana in his hand.

Iroppoi's eyes widened as he backed away from the men. The punishment for killing another person was death unless someone could prove it was for a justified reason.

At that moment, Ai stuck her head out of the doorway of the abandoned building. "… Brother?" She was obviously ill and very underweight, especially for a girl the age of seven. She looked from Iroppoi to the three men as her brother and self-appointed guardian yelled a warning.

"Ai, go back inside! _Now_!"

Her eyes grew wide at the sight as she began to comprehend what was going on. "Don't hurt him!"

The first man ignored their new guest and drove a katana straight down and found it had hit a target, but not its intended one. There, in front of Iroppoi, stood Ai with the katana straight through her chest with her arms spread-eagled in front of him as she held her spot between her brother and the man. "Ai," he screamed. As the blood began to drip from tip of the blade, he felt his vision blur with anger when he blacked out.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but the next thing Iroppoi saw was the three men surrounding him: all dead. Before he could look at the blood they were covered with, he shut his eyes as tight as he could. Activating his Kasukagan, he used it in an attempt to see what was around him while his eyes remained closed. He could faintly see objects as he traveled carefully over to his sister's body. Iroppoi opened his eyes to look into her colorless and wide-eyed face. There was no blood present on her face, but he immediately turned and started vomiting at the sight. Once it finally subsided, he turned back reluctantly to Ai and his shaky hands removed the necklace from around her neck. "I promised…" tears ran down his cheeks as he lowered the necklace around his own neck, "I promised that whatever we do, we'll do it together. We'll stay together no matter what."

Shaking, Iroppoi climbed to his feet and took off running from the scene before anyone could find him there and place the blame on him for killing them, as well. Listening around the village as he hid, grieving for his sister silently, he discovered the real murderer of the butcher was found later that day. Fortunately, there had been no witnesses to tie him to the crime of killing the three men who came to accuse him. They left the case unsolved for the murders of the men and his sister. He was alone.


	3. Protector

**Protector**

Kurisutaru crept inside the door, slipping her shoes off in the entryway as she continued her mission to her room. As she reached the foot of the staircase, she heard her mother ask, "Why are you home so late, Kurisutaru?"

She turned around to speak to her mother in the kitchen. "No reason… I just ran into some friends in town, that's all. Sorry if I worried you."

Rikka turned and noticed her daughter's clothes were dirty and there were scuff-marks on her skin, primarily her arms and face. "Did you trip or something?"

Looking down at her marked arms, she looked back up at her mother. "Uh... Yes. Yeah, I fell on my way home. I was daydreaming again, I guess." The girl smiled and turned, running up to her bedroom.

Her mother watched her as she left when her son walked into the room. Snapping back to reality, she turned and looked at him. "Congratulations, Marugo. You looked stunning at the Academy Graduation Ceremony today. You could hardly tell that you were younger than some of the other graduates." Rikka walked over and gave her son a warm hug. "That's my boy."

Marugo blushed and lightly pushed his mother away. "It's not that big of a deal." He turned his head to look at the stairs. "Did Kurisutaru just get home?"

"Yes… And she's starting to worry me. She has more scratches than last time." The two listened as the upstairs water turned on, indicating Kurisutaru was taking a shower.

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to keep an eye on her?" No matter what her answer would be, he already concluded that he would.

"Yes, could you, Marugo? I don't want her to get hurt." Rikka's eyes softened as she watched the stairs before turning back to the food she was preparing to put away.

"Of course, I will."

Marugo walked down the street of Konoha with his hands casually resting inside his pockets. He absentmindedly took one of his hands out to adjust the Leaf Symbol headband tied around his forehead as he thought about his last mission. He was contemplating about asking his sensei to allow his team to participate in the next Chuunin exams when he passed the Ninja Academy. Looking up at the building, he was nearly blinded by the sun shining against it as the wind blew past so he closed his eyes. As they were in their closed state, his ears began picking up softer sounds Marugo wouldn't normally hear. The rustling of the leaves in the trees and the voices of people in their shops filled his ears. Then another noise arose from nearby: voices.

"Why don't you just get out of here, huh?"

"What's with your hair? Honestly, kuroi akki!"

"Why don't you just go off somewhere and _die_? Nobody wants to be friends with a _demon_!"

Marugo walked around to see a small alley with three young boys crowding around something, kicking at whatever it was. He heard a cry and saw a flash of raven hair between the boys and his eyes widened as he instinctually ran over. "Hey, knock it off!" He grabbed at the back of the boys' shirts and threw them several feet away, like plucking insects from a corpse. One of the boys ran back over only to meet the older boy's foot to send him flying farther back than he had been before. When he had cleared the boys, he found Kurisutaru curled into a ball with her arms blocking her head and face and her knees guarding her stomach. "Are you all right?"

One of the boys stood, a blonde they knew too well to be named Motobe. He was unable to see their attacker because the sun was obstructing his vision. "Hey! Who do you think you are?"

The silver-haired boy stood, glaring at the boys as his headband glinted in the sunlight. "I'm her brother."

Motobe recognized the voice, realizing his opponent as he turned on his heels and ran in the opposite direction. No way was he going to fight a full-fledged ninja!

Marugo bent down in front of his sister. "Kurisutaru, are you all right?"

Kurisutaru peeked out of her defensive ball to look at her savior. Once she had seen who it was and that her attackers were gone, she slowly unfolded herself. She remained silent and looked down at her hands.

"Are you okay? Why were they--?" He was interrupted by his sister's arms wrapping around him, burying her face into the front of his shirt as she began to sob, shaking her head. Marugo patted her back. "Don't worry. Let's get you home and cleaned up, okay?" She continued shaking her head as he picked her up, lifting her onto his back and carrying her piggy-back style. Once her crying subsided, he asked, "So… Are you planning on telling mom?"

Kurisutaru looked at the locket in her hands thoughtfully before quietly answering, "… No."

"Well, then, I guess I'll just have to…" Marugo tilted his head back to see into his little sister's face with a smile, "Keep hanging around to protect you."

She squeezed her hands around his neck a little tighter in a hug as she felt a smile cross her face. "Thanks, brother."


	4. Endings & Beginnings

**Endings and Beginnings**

Teinei breathed heavily as he hid underneath a bush in the private Buke training grounds. He looked around for signs of his parents as his cuts burned from being exposed to the elements. Pulling a kunai from his holster pack, he held it close, readying himself to jump out from his hiding place to attack.

A kunai came whizzing past his head as he jumped out of his hiding place with wide eyes. '_How did he find me so quickly?_' Teinei threw his kunai at his father, pathetically missing by several inches.

"Come on, now! Focus yourself, Teinei," Tomo yelled as he threw several shuriken at his young son.

Running to avoid them, Teinei panted, "Father, can't we take a break? We've been training since before daybreak!"

Tomo continued sparring against his son mercilessly, sending Teinei soaring across the training grounds to crash, stumble, and roll several feet while landing. "We took a break yesterday and that didn't help. Come on, you can handle this!"

The young shinobi lay on his stomach, defeated, as he tried to push himself back up and to his feet with his arms and legs. "I'm tired," he quietly whined to himself, knowing his father would simply ignore his complaints.

"On your feet, Teinei," Tomo commanded as he stood over his small son. "Selection by the elders will come before you know it. For children like you, I doubt they will wait until you are eight to make that decision."

This conversation had taken place several times in their household. When shinobi born to the Buke clan reach the age of eight years old, they are evaluated by the clan's leader and elders to decide how strong they are. If they are exceptionally powerful ninja, they remain where they are. If they are not, however, they are secretly sold to other clans usually outside of the Leaf Village so they will not tarnish the Buke name. Teinei had just reached a mere six years old. Children that show no promise whatsoever, including Teinei due to his chakra-binding shackles, are often evaluated before they turn eight to rid the clan of the burden so they may focus on training the talented ones.

"I know, father; I know!" Teinei huffed as he once again attempted dragging himself to his feet. Luckily for him, his mother Gentaru walked out into the clearing, having been training, herself, with one of her comrades.

"Tomo, do you have to be so stubborn? Give him five minutes and then you may start again. Five minutes won't make any difference," she pointed out.

"Exactly, so why should I give him five minutes of rest if it will make no difference?" he argued.

Gentaru sighed and shook her head. "Tomo Buke, you are perhaps the most stubborn man I have ever met… If it makes you feel better, I'll stay here to continue my training with you two. How does that sound to you, Teinei?" She turned to look at her son for his opinion to see that he was not there. "Where'd Teinei go?"

Tomo sighed agitatedly. "I'll give you three guesses where he is."

The front door of Rikka Tetsu's house opened quickly followed by a hard slam shut as a small boy ducked inside and panted, hands resting on his knees while he caught his breath. A voice came from the kitchen. "Teinei, is that you?"

"Yes, Mrs. Tetsu," he answered with a smile, tugging his jacket on around his arms so his cuts from training couldn't be seen. "Where is everyone?" he asked as he stepped into the kitchen to see Rikka washing dishes.

"I told you, you can just call me Rikka, Teinei." She nodded toward the stairs. "Kurisutaru should be reading in her room. Marugo is out training right now. He should be back soon."

"Okay, thank you," Teinei nodded as he turned and ran up the stairs and knocked on his friend's bedroom door. "Kurisutaru, are you in there? May I come in?" When he heard no answer, he opened the door and peered inside to see there was no one there. He looked around and saw several books scattered in places of the room until they finally fell on the open window. Walking over to it, he stuck his head out and looked around, primarily up to the rooftop as he climbed out of the window and onto the roof. Crawling farther up to the roof, he spotted her laying there, eyes closed, humming a tune quietly to herself. He wordlessly lay on his stomach of the roof and watched her there.

Several minutes passed until Kurisutaru stopped humming, apparently finished with whatever tune she had been carrying. "What's up, Teinei?" she asked.

He had almost fallen asleep while listening to her soothing voice, and was surprised to hear her speak to him. "Nothing much... I'm just thinking."

"Shouldn't you be training with your parents?" Kurisutaru asked as she tilted her head back to see Teinei as he peered over the top of the roof at her.

Peering over at the older girl, he gave a glare. It wasn't directed towards her, but at the thought of training with his parents. "Yes…"

"Then, why aren't you?" she inquired curiously.

"I'm tired, that's why," Teinei huffed as he crawled over from his side of the roof to hers to lay down a few feet next to her. "You would be tired, too, if you had to train as much as I do!"

Kurisutaru sighed. "You're probably right." She looked over at him. "But, still, they're your family and you should—"

"Family who wants to sell me off!"

Her eyes narrowed at him. Her mother had explained the situation to her and Marugo briefly before so it wouldn't catch them off-guard if it was ever mentioned. "They're doing their best, Teinei. If anything, my mother would have you stay with us instead of having them send you off. I'm sure your parents wouldn't mind. You know she would bug the living daylights out of them until they agreed!"

Teinei shook his head, tears falling from anger and frustration at his clan. "No, they're not! If they were really trying their best, they would be trying to get these stupid metal things off of my arms and legs so I could use jutsu! I would be able to meet the standards that way; I _know_ I would!" He got to his feet and jumped off the roof and into Kurisutaru's bedroom window below, disappearing inside.

Kurisutaru sat up and climbed inside through the window to see Teinei sitting on her bed and crying. Now that he was inside, he had unzipped his jacket slightly and she could see the fresh wounds from the training he had just been through. She quietly walked out of the room and into the bathroom down the hall, returning soon with a first-aid kit. Sitting down next to Teinei, she gently removed his jacket as the tear-filled eyes watched her curiously as she did so. Once the jacket and T-shirt were fully removed to expose his skin, she opened the first-aid kit and pulled out a few of the items.

Teinei continued to watch her in awe. "Kurisutaru… What are you doing?" He sniffled back some of his tears, wiping some away on the back of his arm.

She simply continued her work, focusing her attention completely on dressing his cuts, grimacing at several scars he already wore, some more new than others. Once she finished, Kurisutaru helped him replace his shirt and jacket on his body and looked into her friend's tear-stained face with sympathetic eyes.

He sniffled back a few more tears. "Thank you, Kurisutaru. You didn't have to do that."

Kurisutaru leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her friend as he sat stiffly in his place. Hugs were not a common thing in the Buke clan. At least, they weren't in his household. "I know I didn't have to… You're my friend, and I wanted to." When she pulled away, she smiled warmly at him and stood, taking the first-aid kit back to the bathroom in its appropriate place. By the time she returned, there was a knock on the front door which Rikka answered.

Tomo and Gentaru stood in the entrance of the house, eyeing the stairway. "Is Teinei here, Rikka?" he questioned, trying to sound less agitated than he was.

"Good to see you. Yes, he's here. He's just upstairs with Kurisutaru," Rikka answered politely, even though she knew her friends were irritated at their son for running off to come to her home.

Teinei slowly peeked his head around the corner of Kurisutaru's bedroom door to look down at his parents in the doorway, smiling nervously. "Hello, father…"

Raising an eyebrow at his son expectantly, Tomo tapped his foot lightly where he stood, simply watching Teinei's expression change from innocent and frightened to guilt as he trudged down the stairs to leave. Once he reached the doorway, he hung his head guiltily and stood quietly, waiting for his parents to take him back to train and for him to take any punishment he may receive.

Tomo and Gentaru bowed their heads in respect towards Rikka. "Thank you, Rikka. We will see you later."

She nodded with a smile back at them and whispered, "Go easy on him, Tomo. He's still but a child." Returning to her normal volume of voice, she added, "Feel free to stop by for dinner tonight. We're having ramen with steamed vegetables."

From the stairway, Kurisutaru's ears perked up as she glanced down at her mother excitedly. "Did you say we're having ramen for dinner tonight?"

Rikka nodded. "Yes, I did."

Kurisutaru smiled as she ran down the stairs to join everyone in the entryway. "If we're having ramen tonight, then you _have_ to come! Mother makes the best ramen there is! Well, except for Ichiraku, of course."

Her mother laughed heartily as she glanced at Tomo and Gentaru, turning more serious. "What is it?" she whispered.

Tomo looked down at Teinei. "Go play with Kurisutaru for a few minutes, son. We'll leave in a few minutes."

Without question, Teinei darted off, with Kurisutaru's hand in his, away from their parents. He could tell by his father's tone of voice that this wasn't conversation he wanted heard. So, naturally, they crept just around the corner and listened intently to the conversation taking place.

"What's wrong? Care to let me in on the secret?" Rikka asked as she looked between the two shinobi.

"We're being sent off on an undercover mission tonight to Otogakure. We have been assigned to gather information on Lord Orochimaru and his whereabouts. There is an ally inside the village that has been assigned to assist us on the mission so that we can blend in. Teinei is still too young to go on a mission like this, so he will be staying behind," Tomo explained.

Before either of them even had a chance to ask her, Rikka volunteered, "He may stay here, if you like, while you are away."

Tomo gave her a face of pure gratitude as Gentaru quietly answered, "Thank you, Rikka."

"Of course," she smiled, "Just be careful; both of you."

He was just about to call their son back into the room when Gentaru stopped him. "We need to prepare. He'll be fine here."

Tomo sighed, "Very well." He looked up in the direction Teinei had run off to. "Teinei, come in here."

He obediently appeared from around the corner and walked over to his parents. "Yes, father?"

"You are going to be staying here for a while with Rikka, do you understand? Your mother and I are going on a mission." Tomo explained it as if he were a military officer giving instructions to a low-ranked soldier, perhaps new on duty.

Teinei nodded in understanding. "Yes, father."

Not to seem completely heartless, Gentaru knelt down and wrapped her arms around Teinei's shoulders in embrace, his face turning a bright pink as she did so. "Mother…" he muttered embarrassedly.

She smiled to herself as she let go and stood again next to her husband. Tomo only gave him a small approving smile as they left together. "Behave for Rikka, Teinei. We'll finish the mission as soon as we can."

Several weeks passed with no word from the team that left to Otogakure. Late one night, there was commotion at Konoha's village gates. Teinei heard it from the roof of the Tetsu house as he lay there, collecting energy from the moon into the choker around his neck to sustain his life. He crawled to the side of the roof and climbed into the window of the bedroom that had been provided for him for his stay at the Tetsu home. He quickly and quietly ran down the stairs and out the front door to see what was going on at the gates, not knowing that he had woken up the residents of the house that hadn't been awake, already.

Teinei ran as fast as his legs would take him to the village gates and stopped when he saw a crowd of shinobi standing there, as well as a team of medical ninja. His eyes searched around for what the commotion could be about when he some of the people shifted and he saw a bloody figure in the middle of them. When they lifted the figure on the stretcher and began to carry it to the hospital, he finally saw what the bloody figure was: it was Gentaru.

He chased after the medical ninjas to the hospital and, as his mother was taken into a room, he met up with Rikka, Marugo, and Kurisutaru in the waiting room. Teinei had tears in his eyes as he begged the two guarding shinobi outside his mother's room door. "Please, let me in! I have to see her!"

Rikka walked up behind Teinei and asked the guard, "What happened to Gentaru and the rest of the team?"

The guard apparently knew Rikka and answered, "Betrayed. The sound shinobi that was supposed to be helping them gave away their identities and they were attacked. Gentaru Buke is the only one on the team still alive, according to her story."

Nodding in Teinei's direction, Rikka told the guard, "This is Teinei Buke, Gentaru and Tomo Buke's son."

The guard shook his head at Teinei. "I'm sorry, little man, but you don't want to go in there just yet. She's in bad shape."

Ignoring the guard, Teinei noticed the door cracked just slightly as he heard panicked commotion from inside as he pushed past the guard and inside the room. Gentaru lay on the table, bloody from head to toe and breathing heavily with great effort. He could tell that she was moaning back stifled screams to preserve her pride, but it was becoming more difficult with every breath she took.

Wide-eyed and horror-struck, Teinei bolted over to his mother and took one of her blood-soaked hands. "Mother, are you all right? Mother!" Tears of worry and horror streamed down Teinei's face as he watched Gentaru endure such unbearable pain. He held her hand tight as his eyes froze on her face, watching her intently.

The medical ninjas attempted to pull him away, but his grip on her hand wouldn't loosen, despite how slippery it was due to the blood. When Gentaru's cries ceased, the whole room simply watched her for a moment and Teinei's grip was finally released as Rikka gently pulled him away as he screamed after her, the medical team trying to revive the fallen shinobi.

Teinei beat on the door frantically when it was closed behind him, crying for his mother and for the medical staff to allow him inside. Kurisutaru simply stood behind him, holding her head and crying at the sight of the bloody woman. Rikka attempted to soothe Teinei while Marugo tried to calm his tender-hearted younger sister. It wasn't long before one of the shinobi from inside the room emerged and quietly shook their head at the four. Teinei's crying ceased as he watched the man in disbelief and looked past him into the room to see his mother's face covered with a cloth.

Kurisutaru seemed to be taking it worse than Teinei as she sobbed into her brother's shoulder. Rikka picked up the stunned child into her arms as he continued to stare into the room at Gentaru's empty shell of a body and left the hospital, her own two children following behind her. The entire walk back to the Tetsu house, he never took his eyes off the direction of the hospital, seeming to just stare into emptiness with shock as tears streamed down his unblinking, wide eyes.

When they arrived at the Tetsu house, Rikka set Teinei down on the couch while Marugo put Kurisutaru to bed and then climbed into his own. Rikka checked on both of her children and soon returned to the couch. Teinei hadn't moved a single muscle since she had placed him there. She crouched down in front of him and he blinked slowly, and then looked around the room to confirm that they were the only ones in there before looking back at Rikka. The moment he did, tears started pouring down his face as he sat there in silence, looking down at his hands that were still covered in his mother's blood.

"Teinei…? You're more than welcome to stay here and live with us, if you like," Rikka told him gently.

He nodded slowly within his stifled sobs. "Thank you," he whispered with a choke.

Rikka leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the orphaned boy as he broke out into quiet sobs, not returning the embrace she gave as he shook with the emotional weight of losing both of his parents in a single night, one before his very eyes.

Kurisutaru stood on the opposite side of her bedroom door, listening to her best friend's sobs as she rested her head against the wall, horrified at the image stuck inside her mind of Gentaru's blood-covered corpse. 'Why_…? How can people do such horrible things…? How can someone sacrifice so many lives to save their own?_'


	5. Unhappy Christmas

Kurisutaru sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Realizing quickly what day it was, she jumped out of bed, running straight to her older brother's bedroom. Both hands gripped at his blankets and shook roughly. "Brother! Marugo, wake up! It's Christmas!"

He turned over sleepily to look at his younger, enthusiastic sister. "I'm up, I'm up," he grumbled.

She shook his blankets a little more. "Wake up, we have to open presents!"

He sat up, still finding the process of being so excited difficult. "I'll be down in a minute," he promised with a yawn.

Turning, she ran out of the room and to her mother's, gripping the blankets in the same fashion as she had to her brother's. "Mom, wake up! It's Christmas; we have to open presents!"

Rikka laughed, still partially-asleep, as she sat up. "All right, all right," she chuckled. "Let's go downstairs."

Kurisutaru smiled. "Okay, let me wake up Teinei first." Without waiting for her mother's response, she skipped out of the room and to her friend's, not bothering to knock as she opened the door.

His bed was empty so she looked around for Teinei. The window wasn't open, so she doubted he was on the roof. Rounding the bed, she spotted him in a nest of blankets on the floor next to the wall underneath the window. She knelt down and prodded at his blankets.

"Teinei, wake up. It's Christmas," she whispered in the dark room. She had a feeling the holiday was going to be awkward: it was his first Christmas without his parents.

He twisted to face her within his knot of blankets with a sniff. "Kurisutaru?"

"Do you want to come downstairs and open your presents?"

Teinei's swollen, red eyes looked away. They still looked wet, but she didn't point that out. He eventually shook his head, eyes shut.

"Can you come down for breakfast?"

He seemed to think this over thoroughly, taking a deep breath. "Okay," he answered in what he hoped didn't sound like a groan. Unfortunately, it still did and he grimaced at its pathetic sound.

Teinei dragged himself from his pile of blankets and to his feet. The two walked out of the dark room to the hallway, the light blinding his puffy eyes painfully. Rikka was in the kitchen and called, "What do you want for breakfast?"

Marugo was slumping down the stairs, still in his pajamas, as well. He yawned, "Anything is fine for me."

Kurisutaru suggested, "Ramen!"

Rikka laughed, "Not for breakfast. Maybe later."

Teinei shrugged and sniffed quietly. "I'm not really hungry, Mrs. Tetsu."

"How do eggs sound?"

The children made noises of approval. Kurisutaru piped up, "When can we open our presents?"

Rikka teased, acting like she had forgotten, "I thought you didn't want them, so I sent them back."

"Momma!" she groaned, though she knew her mother wasn't serious.

She smiled. "We can open them before breakfast," Rikka said before leading the way like a duck with her chicks to the living room where the presents sat temptingly in a corner. She sat on the couch with Marugo.

Kurisutaru dove at the presents and began passing Rikka and Marugo their assigned presents as she enjoyed doing every year. There was no joy sitting around to receive presents when she could make it seem so much faster by passing them out, herself.

Teinei shifted his feet uncomfortably, standing beside the couch and watching his friend pass out gifts. He rubbed his eyes, trying to rid himself of some of the swelling. He saw the separate piles slowly gain height, but not by much, as the large one was divided.

Standing and nearly tripping in the process, Kurisutaru closed the distance between herself and Teinei to take his hand. "Come on, there's presents for you, too."

He blinked uncertainly. "Huh?"

Rikka smiled as she began unwrapping her gifts with Marugo, watching the scene. Kurisutaru pulled Teinei to sit in front of a pile of presents he had overlooked during his cynic thoughts. "Go ahead, Teinei," Rikka encouraged.

His hands reached for the nearest one carefully, like the slightest movement would break whatever was inside. Teinei could feel the cool glass beneath the decorative paper. He set it aside, feeling strongly what the gift contained. He didn't want to see it at the moment.

The unwrapping of gifts slid by quickly. Finally, he had to come back to the avoided present again when Kurisutaru pushed it into his view. "You forgot one."

He didn't mention how he'd avoided opening it on purpose and took the gift from her hands and opened it. Teinei's assumption had been correct. It was a framed photo of himself and his parents accompanied by Rikka, Marugo, and Kurisutaru, taken a few short months before their death.

"I knew you didn't have any recent pictures of them and I found it lying around, so I thought you should have it," Rikka commented softly.

Staring down at the photo, his eyes locked on his mother Gentaru's face. He could only see it covered in blood until his vision began to fuzz like it had been most of the night. Teinei choked out a sob and lowered the photo frame.

"I want my mom," he squeaked through his tears.

Kurisutaru was the closest and his tears brought water to her own as she leaned forward and hugged him, remembering how difficult the first Christmas without her father Hogosha was. She sniffed comfortingly, "It's okay."


	6. Crumpled Flowers

Kurisutaru walked through the streets of Konohagakure, contemplating the approaching afternoon. She wanted to buy something special for everyone for Valentine's Day, but she had yet to find something to put on her father's grave. Her mother left a treat offering there that the two had always enjoyed, and Kurisutaru didn't want to copy something like that. When a bright bouquet of flowers caught her eye, her feet stopped and she smiled.

"That's it!" she grinned in revelation.

Lifting her feet off the ground, she bolted off for the less populated areas of the village, where the buildings stopped and the woods began. Finding a well-lit, green, and flowery clearing, she spotted a large cluster of white-and-blue swirled flowers. Kurisutaru walked straight to them and knelt down, picking six flowers: one for each year since his death. Each one was carefully situated into her bag so they wouldn't be crushed during the journey to the Memorial Stone.

After she was convinced of their security, Kurisutaru straightened and sprinted off for the Memorial Stone. She took less-populated paths to the area so the pedestrians wouldn't slow her down. As she arrived, the girl noticed two other individuals at the memorial.

She bowed slightly in respect. "Hello, Lord Hokage and Kakashi-sensei," she greeted.

Sarutobi smiled and removed his pipe from his mouth. "Hello, child," he replied.

Kakashi nodded to the Hokage in a signal for his departure before disappearing in a stealthy blur.

Kurisutaru approached the memorial carefully to not disturb her country's leader. "If you don't mind, Lord Hokage, what are you doing here?"

"I was just speaking with Kakashi and visiting the memorial, since I haven't done this in a while," he answered, "And what about you?"

Retrieving the flowers from her bag, she held them up for show. "I brought some flowers for my father that I used to pick for him."

"It looks like your mother has been here already," Sarutobi commented, indicating to a box of treats near the memorial.

She nodded. "She came early this morning."

Sarutobi nodded. "Well, I have to be getting back to my office, and you probably want some time alone with your father. Have a good day, child."

Kurisutaru's body bent slightly in respect as he left. "Thank you, and you, too, Lord Hokage."

When she could no longer feel his presence, Kurisutaru approached the box of treats her mother left, setting her flowers next to them with a smile. Her fingers reached up and traced her father's name in the memorial as she whispered a brief prayer.

She routinely talked about her day, like the two were sitting face-to-face through a window and chatting back and forth, except Hogosha was being an exceptionally good listener. Kurisutaru talked and talked about what she was thinking, what she was feeling, and about her day in general, down to the very last detail, pouring out her heart. She didn't end her one-sided conversation until the lowering sun caught her eye.

"Well, Dad, I have to get going… Mom is taking everyone out for dinner tonight and she'll be worried if I don't get home soon," she notified as she stood, "See you tomorrow."

Kurisutaru took a few steps before she heard rustling in the bushes beside her. A group of boys emerged, one of which who was painfully more familiar than the others. He folded his arms and smiled as they crossed the grass. "Visiting your daddy, kuroi akki?"

She sighed. "Go away, Motobe, I don't want to fight today."

"You never want to fight," he commented, "Find a new excuse."

As one of his friends stepped in her path, she sighed, "Please, I just want to go home."

Motobe neared the memorial stone and knelt beside it. "I like the flowers, and these treats look good, too. I want them."

Kurisutaru whirled around. "No, you can't! They're for my dad!" she cried.

As his hand reached out for the offerings, Kurisutaru lunged at him and gripped at his wrist with both hands. She felt the hands of his friends clawing angrily at her legs, waist, and hair. The sounds of her clothes ripping under the strain rung faintly in her ears, but she ignored them. Finally, Motobe used his free hand to punch her in the face which immediately broke her grip and caused her to stumble backwards.

She instinctively curled into a defensive ball as Motobe and his friends punched and kicked at her mercilessly. As usual, they grew bored and stopped after a few minutes. Motobe picked up the flowers and crumbled them into pathetic fragments of their former selves, and they left before anyone could stumble in on their bullying and punish them.

Once she felt they were gone, Kurisutaru slowly uncurled her body and stood, despite the aching of her body that was screaming at her in protest. Sniffling, she wiped the back of her hand under her nose and across her mouth. It hurt slightly, but she was happy to not find blood present there. She looked over to the crumbled flowers and let a few tears fall, from her body's pain and her frustration.

Deciding her father would understand, Kurisutaru began the sore journey home so Rikka wouldn't worry about her. It took several minutes longer than usual, but she was glad the aching was lessening by the time she arrived home. Taking off her shoes, she crept indoors as quietly as she could manage and began walking to her room.

Teinei caught her at the top of the stairs. "Kurisutaru, where have you been?" His gaze immediately raced over her scratches and swelling cheek. "What happened?"

"What are you talking about? I'm fine!"

He glared with determination and grabbed her arm to bring her ripped sleeve into view. "Then how did this happen?"

She winced at the grip on her bruising arm. "I don't know?" she attempted.

Teinei frowned, but she could see his desperation. "What happened?" He released her arm and tilted his head to the side slightly, causing his newly-earned shinobi headband to glint in the light.

Kurisutaru hung her head and shifted her feet. "I went to the Memorial Stone and Motobe tried to take the flowers I left for my dad."

"Are you okay?"

She raised her head and smiled reassuringly. "Of course I am!" Her smile faded as she said, "But the flowers were crumpled…"

He seemed to think for a moment. "Well, your mom is going to take us out for supper in a few minutes, when she gets home…" An idea seemed to strike him and he grinned. "Go get changed, I have an idea!"

"What--?"

"Trust me!" He gave her a gentle push in the direction of her bedroom as they heard the front door open.

Kurisutaru entered her room and closed the door as her friend raced down the stairs. She changed her clothes, carefully avoided the fresh scratches and scrapes, and then she went to the bathroom to clean them as best she could. When she was finished, she carefully left the bathroom and walked down the stairs.

She found her mother and Marugo leaving the house, Teinei standing in the doorway proudly. "Come on, we're getting some more flowers for your dad," he announced.

Kurisutaru sniffled disbelievingly. "Really? But what about dinner?"

"I'll take care of that," Teinei declared happily. "Come on!"

So the two ventured across the village to the small patch of flowers, to the Memorial Stone, and finally started walking through town. The sun was almost completely set when Kurisutaru asked, "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he chimed.

Kurisutaru pouted and continued to follow her friend until they arrived at Ichiraku Ramen, and her face lit up happily. It faded slightly for a moment. "But… I don't have enough money to pay for dinner with me."

Teinei patted his pocket. "I went on my first mission yesterday, remember? Plus, your mom gave me some money so we could have as much as we want," he admitted.

Both sat down and told Ayame and Teuchi what they wanted to eat, and they happily complied. Teinei dug through his waist pack and pulled out a small teddy bear, passing it to his friend. He grinned. "Happy Valentine's Day, Kurisutaru!"

"Just a sec," she said, digging through her own bag quickly. She hurried to pull out a small box of chocolates and held it out to him. "Happy Valentine's Day, Teinei," Kurisutaru replied, color rising in her cheeks as she returned his grin.

He took the box and opened it as they said in unison, "Thanks." Pulling out one of the chocolates he knew she would like, he held it out to her. "Do you want some? I know you love these."

She smiled. "Sure! Thanks," she replied and received it, popping the chocolate treat in her mouth as their ramen was set in front of them.


	7. Search in Konohagakure

**Search in the Village Hidden in the Leaves**

Crystal Harrell

Yokoshima walked slowly forward, dragging his katana at his side as he walked through the foreign grounds around him. He'd worn himself out from fighting, disappointed that there were few people around for him to kill. Even more disappointing to him is that there was only a small cut on his cheek which didn't produce enough blood to sustain his current state. Returning the weapon to its holster, he sat down underneath a shaded tree to rest and allow his host to regain control over the body. What chaos he could cause in the body of such a young boy, especially inside such a populated village. The demonic personality was nearly ashamed of himself for tiring out before he had a chance to attack it.

Kurisutaru walked through the outskirts of the village, just thinking to herself as her mother and she picked herbs nearby for have on hand at home. Her silk lilac leisure kimono blew in the breeze as she looked up through the trees with a smile. It was a beautiful day and she saw a figure under a tree. Was someone else enjoying the day outdoors, as well? Stepping closer, she found that the figure was a young boy and appeared to be asleep. She knelt down and nudged his left shoulder. "Hey, are you all right? You probably don't want to sleep here."

The boy's eyes slowly opened, revealing the emerald green sparkling brilliantly inside them. The eyes flew open and turned crimson red as he leapt up, drawing a kunai and landing several feet away from Kurisutaru. He was crouched down like a jungle cat as he watched her with large eyes. One of his legs was stretched nearly straight behind him while the other leg's knee waited near his chest for him to spring to his feet and flee. His equipped hand was held up in front of his face defensively while the other rested near his legs to maintain balance. He lowered the kunai slightly when he looked up at the face. The girl in front of him resembled his younger sister who had been dead for nearly two years. "… A-Ai?" His eyes narrowed as the kunai returned to its previous position, concluding it was impossible for the girl to be his sister. "Who are you?"

She smiled warmly at him from her distance, prepared to guard herself if need be, but seeming at ease. "I'm Kurisutaru Tetsu. Who are you?"

"I'm Iroppoi Kagenma of Otogakure. Where am I?" His eyes wandered around him carefully, trying to place his surroundings.

Mentally, her eyes widened as she felt like taking a step back. '_The Village Hidden in the Sound? So he's a Sound ninja… Just like the people who killed Teinei's parents…_' "This is Konohagakure: the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Iroppoi lowered his kunai and slowly stood up straight. "This is Konoha?"

She nodded with a smile. "It sure is!"

He returned his kunai to his waist pack as his eyes returned green, bowing respectfully to the younger girl. "Please excuse my rudeness." When he straightened, he looked at the girl in her eyes. "Can you tell me where to find Lady Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin? It's very important that I speak to her."

"Lady Tsunade of the Sannin? I don't know where she is… Let's ask my mom and see if she knows!" Kurisutaru grinned as she took the older boy by the hand and began to lead him to her mother's location.

When they approached, Rikka looked up at the two children with a smile. "Who's your friend, Kurisutaru?"

"This is Iroppoi Kagenma from the Sound Village. He's looking for Lady Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin." The girl looked between her mother and her newfound friend as the woman thought. Rikka wore a white silk kimono with pink and purple flower patterns within it, smoothly matching the rest of the material.

"Lady Tsunade went missing years ago, I'm afraid. What do you need her for, dear?" She turned to look at the young boy who looked away.

"I just need to discuss something with her, that's all." He decided to keep his answer vague so he would not be feared. The reason he had traveled all that way in search of Lady Tsunade was in hopes she could cure his reaction to blood and his inherited disease that had infected his sister. It had not yet begun to influence him, but he knew it would come sooner or later and it was unlikely he would be able to make the journey to Konoha when it did. Iroppoi bowed politely again to the two Konoha natives. "Thanks, anyway."

As he walked past the two, Rikka only saw a polite smile, but her daughter saw something beneath that. Kurisutaru saw an unrivaled sadness in the boy's eyes as they watched the ground in front of him as he walked. Never had she seen such sadness in her lifetime, not even at the funeral for all of the deaths from the Kyuubi attack. She set down the herbs she had picked inside her mother's basket and ran after the older boy. "Hey, wait!"

He turned around and looked at her, his face curious but his eyes remained solemn. "What is it?"

When she caught up to him, she huffed, slightly out of breath before looking up at him with a hopeful smile. "I think… Lord Hokage should know… where to find Lady Tsunade."

Iroppoi's eyes lighted up at the girl. "Do you really think so?"

Kurisutaru nodded and reached out, grabbing his hand as she started to pull him along the woods. "I'll take you there, c'mon!" As she was dragging him along, she noticed that he was constantly staring at his feet and the ground. He didn't look around at their surroundings the entire journey to the Hokage's office, just the ground. "Are you all right?"

"Mm-hmm," he mumbled in return.

She merely shrugged and didn't stop again until they reached the Hokage's office. They were about to step inside when he walked out. "Lord Hokage, good afternoon!"

The elderly man looked up at the two children and smiled from underneath his broad white-and-red hat with the symbol for 'fire' written on its front. "Good morning, child. What can I do for you?" One arm was behind his back by force of habit while the other shifted the ceremonial hat from out of his face so he could see the two.

"This is Iroppoi Kagenma, Lord Hokage. He's looking for Lady Tsunade. Do you know where she might be?"

As to not seem rude or disrespectful, Iroppoi's eyes traveled up from the ground to look at Sarutobi. "It's important that I find her, sir. Anything at all would help."

The man stroked his small beard in thought as he looked between the two young faces. "I'm not sure what to tell you, young man. No one has seen Lady Tsunade for several years. All three of the Sannin are the kind of people you can't be found unless they actually _want_ to be. All I can tell you is it's highly unlikely you'll find her here in the Land of Fire."

His spirits dropped once again, the younger girl next to him could feel it immediately. Iroppoi bowed respectfully once again at the leader. "Thank you for your time, Lord Hokage. Good-bye." When he turned to leave, Kurisutaru quickly gave her own bow at the Hokage and turned to chase after him.

"Iroppoi, wait a second!" she called. He stopped and turned to look at her, but he didn't speak. The sadness that had been in his eyes earlier was still present and it felt like icy rain that could never stop. Stopping in front of him, she couldn't help but to look in those eyes as she smiled in hopes of raising his spirits. "Why don't you stay for a little while?"

Looking at the ground side-to-side, he thought about what consequences could arise from doing so. "I don't know…" he said uncertainly.

Rikka appeared behind them and announced, "At least stay the night with us. That is, if your parents don't mind."

Iroppoi slowly looked up at the kind woman. "They have no problem with it, trust me."

"Shouldn't you at least ask them?" she asked as she moved around a few of the harvested herbs in her woven basket.

He looked away as if something caught his eye and responded casually, "I can't; they're dead."

"I see," she responded as she felt her daughter's eyes watching her. "In that case, you definitely have to stay." Rikka knelt down and smiled warmly into the boy's face. "I won't take 'no' for an answer."

When Iroppoi sighed and nodded in defeat, Kurisutaru smiled and took him by the hand. "Come on, my house is this way!"

Iroppoi remained silent as he was tugged along by the chattering younger girl with her mother close behind. "I think you'll like Konoha; it's really pretty, especially in the summer. It doesn't have a lot of humidity like some places and the winters aren't really cold, either. Like the Land of Snow, for example; it makes me cold just thinking about it!" They finally reached a sign in the village that read the name 'Tetsu' across it. It seemed to be a small section of town with several people in the street coming and going. When he looked around, he noticed all of the people there had silver, white, or grey hair, making him feel out of place. Then he realized that Kurisutaru's hair was raven, unlike the others in the Tetsu District of the Village. As an elderly man approached, Rikka and Kurisutaru stopped in their tracks, forcing Iroppoi to stop, as well, and bow his head when he was gently nudged.

"Good-day, Uncle," Rikka and Kurisutaru said in unison with their heads bowed as the man passed. The man didn't even look at the two women as he passed, simply ignoring them and continuing on his way. If anything, he seemed disgusted at the two. After he had passed and was out of earshot, the three raised their heads.

"Is that really your uncle?" Iroppoi asked curiously.

"No, he's my dad's uncle, actually, but we're supposed to call him that," Kurisutaru answered. "Come on, my house isn't far from here!" She continued pulling him along by the hand until they reached a rather large house and stepped inside. Kicking off their shoes, she invited him inside as she looked around. "Marugo, are you home?" she called.

An older boy stepped out of the kitchen to see who was calling for him. "I just got home but Uncle wants me to join him for something so I can't stay long." He spotted their guest and raised an eyebrow. "Hello, who's this?"

"This is Iroppoi from Otogakure," Kurisutaru smiled.

Marugo looked at his sister in disbelief before sighing. "At least Teinei's away on a mission," he breathed exasperatedly as he headed for the door. "I'm going out with Uncle for a little while, mom. Afterwards, I might go training with Itachi, if he's not too busy."

Rikka nodded. "Just be home before dinner. We're going to Ichiraku Ramen."

Kurisutaru's ears perked up. '_Ichiraku Ramen? Yes!_' She mentally jumped around in excitement as she began showing her new friend around the house. When showing her own room, he noticed stacks of books everywhere and some of them, he couldn't even read the titles. They seemed to be in other languages and even the ones who weren't seemed far too advanced for him to read. There was also scattered training equipment and weapons around the room. "Sorry my room is such a mess. I was in a bit of a hurry this morning," she apologized.

"It's cleaner than mine ever was," he smiled, almost expecting himself to laugh. Looking into the hallway, he saw old photographs of the three occupants of the household with several other people, as well. When he saw pictures of Kurisutaru, it scared him how much she looked like Ai.

When the girl looked out the window, she gasped. "And the garden's in bloom right now! Come on, you have to come see!" She was so happy to meet someone new for once who didn't treat her differently for her hair. He could feel her excitement radiating around her every time he said something kind or smiled. Kurisutaru pulled him outside and released his hand to see the flowers for herself. "They've turned out better than I thought they would." Her hair fell gracefully over her shoulders as she bent over to smell a large carnation, and as she did so, a small yellow bird landed on her shoulder and made a small tweet.

"Well, 'hello' to you, too," she smiled as she lifted a finger to gently stroke the top of the bird's head. "Are you enjoying the day, too? I don't blame you." Kurisutaru stopped stroking the bird and held her finger at its feet and it climbed on happily. With her free hand, she began to stroke the bird again as a blue one flew over and landed on her shoulder as the two sang happily, causing the girl to giggle. "That's not fair; you've outnumbered me, you cheaters!"

Iroppoi sat down in the green grass of the yard and watched the younger girl giggle as the birds begged for attention. He couldn't help but smile and think back to his sister. Before she fell ill, Ai had loved to be outdoors and birds would flock to her in just the same way. He knew he couldn't stay in the large Village for very long. The sooner he left, the better, so his chances of seeing blood and reacting to it would be less. If this girl was truly like his sister, there would be no reason on Earth that would make him want to let her fall to injury.

Kurisutaru noticed his daydreaming and walked over to him, sitting across from him in the grass. "If you don't mind my asking; who's Ai?"

Snapping back to the present, he looked up at the girl, quietly mumbling about how she surprised him. "Ai was my younger sister."

"Oh, really? Where is she?" The yellow bird that had been resting on her finger, she gently placed into his hand. Moments later, it flew away and the two watched it go.

"She… was killed a few years ago by a few men in my Village." Distractedly staring at the grass, he ran his hand across the blades of grass.

She gasped. "I'm so sorry! Did the guys who did it get punished?"

Iroppoi's eyes darkened as his hand stopped moving over the grass. There was a long silence as a light gust of wind blew past. "… You could say that they did." He knew better than to tell anyone about it. If it was known that he killed three men, even unconsciously, the punishment would still be the same: banishment or death. "You look almost exactly like her, you know." He said it as if he was far away, not there in the conversation.

"Really, I do?" Kurisutaru's eyes brightened that she reminded him of someone so familiar.

He nodded. "Except for your eyes… Hers were green, like mine, not blue." Looking at the blue bird still resting on her shoulder, he smiled and said, "I could never get a bird to land on me like that…"

She smiled happily and held her finger for the bird to step on. Once it did, she held her hand out to Iroppoi and lifted his hand with her free one. "Here, just keep your arm relaxed and don't make sudden movements." Turning his hand over, she assisted the small creature into his hand and it readily climbed in with merely a moments' hesitation. It tweeted loudly and flew away when Iroppoi turned to see who had opened the door behind him.

Rikka stood in the doorway, smiling. "Marugo's home; are you two ready to go eat?"

Kurisutaru smiled. "Yeah, I'm ready!" She pulled her friend to his feet. "Let's go, already!"

Marugo eyed Iroppoi cautiously. Like his sister, before that day he had never met a Sound Ninja in person before. During the walk, the boy kept his eyes on the ground in front of him as if deep in thought which held the older boy's interest. When he was asked how his day went, he looked up at his mother. "It went pretty well. I couldn't train with Itachi because he had something important to do with the Anbu. He said it was top-secret so he couldn't tell me."

"I think you should stop spending so much time with him, Marugo. I feel like something is amiss with Itachi Uchiha that you shouldn't get involved in. If you continue training with him: be careful," Rikka warned.

He nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean. He hasn't been acting like himself for a while. Apparently, even his little brother Sasuke has noticed he's changed." Seeing as he had never actually met the boy, Marugo earned a glance. "It's a rumor I've heard around the squads."

"You should know better than to believe rumors, Marugo," his mother pointed out.

"You know what they say: more often times than not, rumors have a little piece of truth in them," he argued.

Rikka nodded at the realization. "Very true; you make a good point." Seeing they had arrived at Ichiraku Ramen, the four took their seats.

Iroppoi finally looked up from the ground and began looking at his surroundings. His eyes froze when he saw a sign on a cart reading 'Fresh Meat' across its side. He drew a gasp and quickly looked away.

"Iroppoi, what's wrong?" Rikka looked around him to see the cart of meat. "It's just a meat cart."

He shook his head nervously. "Excuse me, I have to leave now." When he stood to leave, he turned and ran into a man holding fresh meat from the cart which was covered in cold blood. His eyes widened before he quickly shut his eyes to prevent himself from seeing the blood but it was too late. A piercing pain began to course through his head as he held it with both hands. "No… Not here!"

Onlookers saw as the boy began to change, namely Kurisutaru. He was no longer the caring but sad boy she had been with all day, but a heartless monster. "Mom, something's wrong with Iroppoi."

Marugo stood from his seat and drew a kunai as the figure of Iroppoi's head raised and he stopped holding his head in pain. "Iroppoi, what's going on?"

"'Iroppoi'? I believe you are mistaken," the dark voice chuckled. "Iroppoi isn't here… for _I_ am _Yokoshima_." He looked up at the older boy with eyes full of bloodlust and a wicked smile. His green eyes turned crimson as his Kasukagan activated. "Come at me: all of you, if you dare!" he challenged. Without waiting for a response, he drew a kunai and charged at the closest person near him, which happened to be Marugo.

His weapon was quickly drawn pulled in front of him for defense as he threw the younger boy off of him several feet away. When he tried to attack another onlooker, Marugo ran in the way and diverted Yokoshima's attention. "Your fight is with me," he growled.

Kurisutaru watched the fight in fear. She didn't want Iroppoi to be injured but she didn't want anyone else to be hurt, either. She leaped from her seat and over to the fight. "Please, stop it! Stop fighting!"

Looking up at the girl, Yokoshima froze as her arms wrapped around him as tight as they could. The sight of someone so similar to Ai was still new to Iroppoi as such a strong emotion held the body still. The eyes slowly returned green as he began to seem less ominous. "… Kurisutaru, what are you doing?"

Marugo lowered his kunai when he realized this was not the same boy he was fighting moments earlier. "Can somebody tell me what just happened here?"

Iroppoi looked over at the older boy before finally saying, "There's blood on my shirt, isn't there?"

It puzzled him that the boy didn't simply look for himself but he answered, "Yes, don't you remember?"

He sighed and closed his eyes; prying Kurisutaru's arms from around his waist and tugging off of his shirt, letting it fall to the ground. "Twice in one day…" he muttered to himself, "I'm becoming more careless by the day, I suppose."

"What do you mean?" Rikka picked up Iroppoi's blood-covered shirt in her arms carefully.

Looking around, he saw the onlookers had scattered. No doubt on their way to report to the Hokage about what just occurred. He sighed in defeat before looking at the woman. "My family has a kekkei genkai called the Kasukagan that resides in the eyes. If you saw my eyes turn red, then you saw my jutsu. Unfortunately, that is not the only thing that runs in my family. One of the conditions we get inevitably effect everyone at one point or another that eventually leads to death. My sister had it for several years before she was killed. The other condition many of us get is far crueler… Both of my parents had it as well as I, while my older brother Reis and my younger sister Ai did not. This condition only occurs when I see large amounts of blood. Anything more than a minor cut or scrape can do it. When that happens, I have another personality surface against my will and I don't remember anything that happens because I am technically unconscious. My other personality calls himself 'Yokoshima' which many split personalities in my family choose similar names. Normally, that wouldn't be too bad of a family trait, except…"

All four sets of eyes looked to the place where the fight had just taken place before Iroppoi continued, mentally wishing someone would stop him from explaining. "You saw it for yourselves. At young ages, the reactions aren't too severe. Sometimes just silly things such as being mean to a sibling or a random person. Whether brought on by a traumatic event or just getting older, the other personality becomes more violent. So, when that happens, Yokoshima goes on an uncontrollable blood-thirsty rampage. In most cases, I can only change back if Yokoshima has been knocked out, I've been killed, or Yokoshima is too tired to kill anymore, like this morning…" He looked up at Kurisutaru with an apologetic smile before continuing once again. "People with this condition have all either committed suicide, were killed by others simply for being diagnosed that they have it, or died in battle, all before they've reached eleven years old. Like my parents and I, it's a wonder how we lived so long. The reason I've been looking for Lady Tsunade is because I heard that she is a skilled medical ninja and I was hoping she would be able to help me. I guess that I'll just have to keep looking. If you don't mind, I think it would be better if I left now. Thank you for your hospitality." Iroppoi made a respectful bow of farewell before turning to leave as he pulled a spare shirt out of his backpack and slid it on.

Kurisutaru chased after him. "Wait a second, Iroppoi! Please, wait!"

He stopped to look at her. "What, you want to chase me out, personally?" he asked sadly.

She shook her head. "No. Please, I want you to tell me more." Her eyes looked desperate. Why she wanted to know, she didn't know why, but she felt she simply had to.

Iroppoi went turned to face her and told the summarized version of the story of how his parents died, as well as his sister Ai as well as the Kasukagan's abilities. She said nothing, only listened attentively until he finished. "So, what happened to the men who killed Ai? If there was blood, then that means…"

He nodded slowly. "Yes… I killed them. Like I said earlier: I can't remember what happens when Yokoshima is in control, no less control it." Nodding politely at Kurisutaru and her family, he looked back into the blue eyes that watched him. "Thanks for letting me stay here for the day and for trying to help me find Lady Tsunade. The rest, I'll have to take from here."

Iroppoi walked through the darkness outside of the Leaf Village when he heard a rustle in the leaves near him as he pulled out a kunai. "Who's there?"

A man walked out calmly from behind a tree. "Easy, I'm not here to make enemies. Besides…" The eyes that dug into his were sharp and threatening. "You should be more careful who you try to pick your fights with."

"Who are you?" He lowered his kunai only a little, but only a fraction for defensive purposes.

"I am Lord Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin. How would you like to come work for me?" the snake-like man answered.

"Why should I work for you?" Iroppoi's eyes furrowed in distrust at the man. He had heard that Orochimaru was the most wicked of the Sannin.

"It's simple, really. I can provide proper food for you that I'm sure you haven't had for several years. If that alone isn't enough to satisfy you, I can help you find Lady Tsunade." Orochimaru smirked at the boy's reaction to his offer.

"You can help me find Lady Tsunade?" he repeated. The Hokage's words repeated in his mind. '_All three of the Sannin are the kind of people you can't be found unless they actually _want_ to be_.' "What do you want for it?"

"Nothing much, really. You just have to swear your loyalty to me and fight alongside me. It's people like you that I look for. Your abilities are of great interest to me, my dear boy."

Iroppoi knew he had to put serious thought into his choice. He would be fed and even perhaps receive medical help from the great Lady Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin. On the other hand, Orochimaru was a snake of a man, he could tell that much just from speaking to him. Yet, if he refused, would the man allow him to live after the encounter? An audible growl came from the boy's stomach. In reaction, Orochimaru dug into his waist pack and threw a sandwich at the boy. Looking from the sandwich to the giver of the food, Iroppoi was trying hard to decide.

"If you don't wish to join me, return that sandwich to me despite your hunger. If you decide to pledge your loyalty to me and follow me back to Otogakure, eat it to your pleasure." Orochimaru turned as if to leave but he watched over his shoulder for the boy's decision.

With one last uneasy glance, another low growl emerged from his stomach and he took a large bite into the sandwich. Iroppoi quickly devoured the food in his hands as he tucked his kunai away as Orochimaru smiled in satisfaction. "Good choice, Iroppoi Kagenma."


	8. What Happened, Kurisutaru?

**What Happened, Kurisutaru?**

Kurisutaru placed a set of folded training clothes on her dresser, only finished changing into a bright yellow sundress. There was a coin purse tucked away in a pocket of her dress. Teinei's birthday would be coming up soon and she had yet to find him a gift. She came downstairs to find her mother, Teinei, and Marugo eating breakfast. She smiled at her loved ones sitting at the table. "Thanks for helping with my agility training this morning, brother." He only smiled at her through his mouthful of food.

Swiping an apple off the table, her mother asked, "Aren't you going to sit down and eat?" Rikka didn't want her daughter to begin skipping breakfast.

"I have chores to do. This apple will do me just fine." Kurisutaru winked at her mother and headed outside towards the market.

"Since when does she do chores in the marketplace?" Teinei watched her as she nearly flew out the door. Marugo only shrugged and continued eating his breakfast.

Kurisutaru pulled out her hidden coin purse and began looking at gifts for Teinei and bumped into Motobe Enma and two of his friends. "It's the kuroi akki!" She ignored him and moved on to the next shop. Looking around, he leaned in and whispered harshly in her ear, "Marugo and Teinei aren't here to protect you, akki."

Kurisutaru rolled her eyes, sarcasm ringing in her voice. "Brilliant deduction, Captain Obvious. What are you going to come up with next? That water is wet?"

Furious, he swung his fist at her and she easily dodged, seeing as she was still hyped up from agility training that morning. "No way!" The other two boys charged at her and she leapt over them with graceful accuracy. All three began swinging their fists and feet at her. Kurisutaru blocked and dodged several blows, but receiving far more than being missed.

With a small running start, she began jumping up the sides of two close-together buildings. "Not today, Motobe!" She had the same smirk on her face that Sasuke gave Naruto when he gained the upper hand in a match until Motobe yelled, "NOW!"

Once she reached the top, she found out why: he had an unannounced friend waiting on the rooftop. He gave her an awful smirk and, upon her approach to the roof, he prevented her landing and pushed her off. "Damn!" Tumbling to the ground, Kurisutaru managed to land on her feet in a roll and Motobe was on her in moments. All four of them proceeded in kicking and punching her while throwing their usual insults. Unlike his usual beatings, Motobe knocked her out.

Kurisutaru woke up in a dimly lit room. How much time had passed, she had no idea. Motobe was there along with several other boys and men from the village. She couldn't see all of their faces but she knew there were at least seven people present other than her. Two grabbed her by the shoulders as Motobe crouched down beside her. "It's time you learned your place, kuroi akki." He began sliding the neck of her dress down and she tried to tilt her head back and away, but the two boys held their grip on her.

Rikka and Teinei were doing the dishes from lunchtime while Marugo was looking through his weapons' bag, preparing to go train with his teammates Aoiro, Mizu, and Kanojo. "Kurisutaru's been gone a pretty long time…" It was starting to bother Rikka, as she looked out the kitchen window in thought. Even if she was shopping, she shouldn't be taking this long.

"Do you want me to go and look for her?" Marugo didn't mind missing out on training very much. His teammates would probably want to help find her, anyway.

She continued looking out the window in thought before turning to her son with an answer. "Could you, please? I'm a little worried."

Marugo nodded and set down his weapons' bag. Teinei finished the dish he was drying and put it away. "I'm going, too." Saying their short good-byes, the two headed out to look for Kurisutaru. They couldn't find her anywhere and no one had seen her. When she wasn't on top of the Hokage faces or at the K.I.A. memorial stone, they began to get worried and called Marugo's teammates to help in the search. Teinei even called Kurisutaru's teammates: Kaki, Uindo, and Daichi. The eight of them split up and began a thorough search of the village. And by the judge of the clouds and Uindo's changing hair color, it was going to rain soon.

Kurisutaru was on the floor and scrambled to replace her clothes to their positions on her body while fighting back tears. Motobe and company were kicking at her and trying to pull her to her feet but she managed to stay down and backed into a wall behind her.

Those same two boys gripped her tightly once again. Parts of her dress had been ripped and pulled away from tender areas, and several scratches and bruises were present. Kurisutaru's arms were wrapped around herself and she curled her best into a defensive ball as Motobe advanced on her again. Tears falling down her cheeks and shaking, she pleaded. "Please, Motobe, _stop_...! Leave me alone, _please_...!"

Motobe wiped his lip where she'd managed to get a defensive punch in with an angry smirk on his face. "You idiots get a better grip on her!" He crouched down in front of her and came in closer, forcing himself on her in another deep kiss.

All eight of the ninja met up after hours of searching. Teinei looked at Kurisutaru's teammates. "Did you find her?" The three shook their heads.

When Marugo looked at his own teammates, he asked, "Anything?"

They, too, shook their heads. "Nothing here, either." They were running out of ideas of places to look as the rain started to pour down on them.

"We have to keep searching. We have to find her!" Teinei knew something had to be wrong. The rest of them could feel it, too, as they all split up to continue their search.

Motobe was carrying Kurisutaru, sneaking around the village in the rain as quick as he could. She could barely move, covered in bruises, cuts, and scrapes from yet another beating after all the men and boys had finished their work. Weaving in and out of buildings, he was looking for a place to leave her. He was nearing the Hokage's office and ducked into a dark alleyway, throwing her to the ground as he disappeared out of sight. Her bright-yellow sundress was soaked and torn as she lay there on the ground.

Kurisutaru was curled up as much as she could manage, looking like an injured dog. Her vision faded in and out as she fought to stay conscious until help arrived. She began to hear voices nearby, outside the alley, and there were two of them.

"I was thinking of heading to the training grounds, Lord Hokage," one of the voices stated.

"Even in this rain? Are you sure that's very wise?" The voices stopped as they passed the alley, the first voice, a green figure, looking at her. The sky was dark with clouds, making it hard to see.

"What's that? It looks like a girl." The green man inquired, looking at the dark figure lying on the soaked ground.

Lord Hokage walked closer to her to get a better look. "It is. I came across her file just the other day. She's of the Tetsu family, I believe."

Guy walked over and scooped her up in his arms, one arm around her shoulders and the other beneath her knees. Despite her injuries and the cold, she flinched at the contact, afraid of the contact. "It'll be all right. Just hold on." He turned to the older man. "What do you think happened to her?"

Lord Hokage looked down sympathetically at the battered teen. Who would do something like this to a young girl? Especially to a young girl that wasn't prepared for battle on a normal day in her own village. "I don't know, but she needs medical attention."

Guy nodded and took off at break-neck speed for the village hospital as Kurisutaru lost consciousness and everything around her went pitch black.

Kanojo came running up to Marugo and Teinei and stopped in front of them. Her hands were on her knees as she panted, "It's Kurisutaru. Guy-sensei and Lord Hokage found her near the Hokage's office. They've taken her to the hospital."

Their eyes widened. "Is she all right?"

She only shrugged and looked down at her feet as she tried to catch her breath. "That's all I know."

Marugo and Kurisutaru's teammates had to return home, so they couldn't join them to the hospital and went their separate ways.

Kurisutaru's eyes slowly opened as she looked around the room. She could hear Guy's voice in the hallway, speaking to Rikka about what he knew of the situation. Her memories quickly rushed back into her head and caused her to leap out of the bed and dart to the nearest corner of the room. She dropped to her knees and tucked into a ball, ignoring the other people in the room entirely.

Teinei crouched down next to her, concerned. "Kurisutaru? It's all right. Guy found you and brought you here to the hospital. What on earth happened?" She pulled back slightly, wishing her friend wouldn't be so close, and didn't answer.

Marugo also crouched down, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Kurisutaru..." She jumped up and nearly screamed, just trying to back away from them. They backed up, shocked at her reaction.

Rikka came inside at the noise, Guy standing in the doorway behind her. "Boys, what's going on in here?" She noticed Kurisutaru in the corner, attempting to be as far away from them all as possible, with a terrible look of fear spread over her face. Rikka pulled Marugo and Teinei back and away from Kurisutaru as she moved in, instead. Being another girl, she was less determined to back away. Kurisutaru shrunk back down into a tight ball and covered her head as Rikka got as close as Kurisutaru would allow, their bodies perhaps still an entire foot away from each other. Kurisutaru began to cry silently as Rikka did her motherly duty and tried to soothe her, even from a distance, as Teinei and Marugo only stood and watched.

Guy, still in the doorway, turned around and left: it was a family moment. She was safe; he'd done his part.

For the next month, Kurisutaru spoke to no one. She seemed to merely drift around the house in a daze. Rikka, Teinei, or Marugo were home with her at all times. Teinei was perhaps the most reluctant to leave and the first to volunteer to stay. The usually always-excited-and-smiling Kurisutaru had lost her smile. She wouldn't even laugh.

Every night, she would cry in her sleep and eventually wake up screaming. Even then, when her family and friends attempted to comfort her, she would stray away from their touch.

One day, as she was cleaning the dishes, Teinei came over and began drying them and putting them away. He looked outside and noticed a robin in a nearby tree. "Looks like you'll have your hands full this year with feeding those birds, Kurisutaru." He smiled warmly at her, trying to lighten her spirits and hoping to receive a smile in return.

For a moment, she just stared out the window before returning to the dishes. Teinei thought he had failed, once again, to bring a smile back on to her face. Hours later, he couldn't find her anywhere in the house. "Kurisutaru?"

Then he saw that she was digging through the closet as she asked him quietly, "Do you know where the birdseed is?" She looked up and gave him a small smile. It was obviously forced, but a smile nonetheless.

Teinei smiled back at her and pulled out a bag of birdseed for her and went outside. A robin landed on her shoulder, waiting for a seed of its own. Kurisutaru forced a smile at it once again, recognizing the bird and holding out a handful of seed. There had been a storm the previous summer and its nest had been destroyed so she raised it, herself. "It's good to see you again, too."

Countless more times would Kurisutaru wake up in the night in tears and screaming over what happened. Countless more times would she continue to flinch when someone came near or touched her in any way. And countless more times, she forced laughter and smiles to satisfy those around her and give the appearance of her happiness. Still, Kurisutaru wouldn't tell a soul what happened to her for years to come. Even after her mother died a short nearly three years later, her lips remained sealed.

That is, until she met Naruto Uzumaki.


End file.
